The evening started with the smell of imminent rain in the air, and clouds lowering above. Leaves raced across asphalt, or swirled in confusion, as if panicking at the news of an advancing army of raindrops. The trees roared around me. By the end of the night, some of these trees had toppled, or dropped heavy branches onto cars. I often found myself swerving to avoid plant debris. The hard lines of roads and curbs softened into leafy indistinctness. I love winter storms.

The day started on a surreal note. One of the first things I do upon awakening is turn on the lights in the reptile cages. This is a pretty simple task, except for the one in the python cage, which never quite works right and has to be jiggled. In order to jiggle it, I have to reach over the python, who is always expecting food. Anything that enters the python cage is mistaken for food. I've gotten into the habit of picking up whatever happens to be on the floor near the cage and placing it between the python's head and my hand as I reach for the light. Today it was one of Nathan's jackets. You can see where this is leading... Have you ever tried to get a jacket away from a python after he's latched onto it? He struck, looped his coils around it, and squeezed. I tried to pull it out. He squeezed tighter. I was trying to get ready for work, so I got him out of the cage and carried him around with me while I got dressed, attempting every so often to get the jacket back. Every time I grabbed it, he thought it was coming back to life, so he'd tighten up again. I finally got it away from him, and made it to work on time. Nathan was a bit miffed about the whole thing though.

I would have had a unique excuse if I had been late.

At the museum, I put an Ethiopian cd in the player, and a guy from Ethiopia had to question where he was. It turns out he'd grown up listening to the first song on the cd. He was a bit surprised to hear it in the Early Childhood Center at the children's museum. Another one of those "meant to be" coincidences.

cds I listened to while getting a bit wet and trying to get the car to slide on the leaves: Coil "Unnatural History", eX-Girl "Kero! Kero! Kero!" and "Big When Far, Small When Close", Gjallarhorn "Sjofn", Penelope Houston "Tongue", and Punk Lady (who are actually eX-Girl in disguise)

now: Martyn Bates "Mystery Seas (Letters Written #2)"